Seattle City Council Applies for Google Fiber

google fiber seattle

Update: Director of Communications Dan Nolte reached out to clarify a few things. Google is currently rejecting Seattle’s applications for Google Fiber, but the City Council has instructed the Dept. of Information Technology to apply every time the option is available. Residents have been searching for faster internet speeds in the tech hub of Seattle for years.

To quote Mr. Nolte, “Seattle is NOT a great contender based on Google Fiber’s “Checklist.”  Also, as I understand it, Google has not entered a market where there is another FTTP provider (CenturyLink is currently building FTTP to homes across the city).”

Mr. Nolte also attached a copy of the application, a form filled out by the City of Seattle and sent to Google.

Last year, a disheartening article came out about how the city of Seattle would never get Google Fiber and it left us all struck with the harsh reality that we likely wouldn’t be seeing any of those sweet vans laying cable in our neighborhoods anytime soon:

“When Google announced its launch city for Google Fiber – Kansas City – it was a sensation. And the very next day the Kansas City Council authorized a contract with Google for the service. Can you imagine the Seattle City Council keeping a secret like this and then acting on it in just one day? Of course not. We’d need to have endless community meetings and hearings and public floggings of Google Executives. Every citizen in a tinfoil hat who thinks fiber is just another cereal ingredient would have their three minutes in front of the Council.”

Sad.

But Dan Nolte, Director of Communications for Seattle City Council, responding to a cynical comment by yours truly, informed us that they are in fact in the process of applying for Google Fiber to make its way to Seattle. Now they’re awaiting Google’s response to the application.

This doesn’t mean we’re next in line to get access to that sweet, sweet Google internet, but it’s a promising sign that the city council is certainly interested in pursuing a relationship with alternative internet service providers. The possibility of live streaming the Mariners, Huskies and Seahawks game over fiber is just too tantalizing for most Seattlites.

Comcast has certainly provided plenty of reasons to try and find alternatives in recent years, but competition has been marginal at best. DSL isn’t a realistic offering for most modern homes, and other options have limited reach. Google Fiber certainly brings a ton of fresh ideas and competition to a market that has been relatively monopolistic for far too long.

We have sent a public disclosure request to the city to see if we can get access to the application that has been filed. We will update when we hear back.